Interesting question. Tbh, to this day, I don't spontaneously refer to myself as Canadian (except on BHM, lol!) when I'm asked for my nationality, unless I'm trying to piss off white folks who ask me the same old annoying "where are you from" question. And this, even though I was born and raised here and never spent any significant amount of time in either Haiti or Guadeloupe (except for a few holidays). I tend to say I'm Haitian/Guadeloupian with a stronger emphasis on Haitian.

I guess it comes from growing up not being de facto accepted as a Canadian by white folks in Quebec. On the other hand, I can't say that I felt torn. It's hard to explain. I always knew that my mentality/my outlook on things was strongly Canadian, all the while retaining elements of my parents' cultures. And frankly, for a long time I never even wanted to date a Haitian at all (not many Guadeloupians here anyway, so it's not much of an issue). I knew I had little to no interest in white dudes, though. My first boyfriend was African and I only had two Haitian boyfriends throughout my life, one of which was a brief fling. I did date 2 white guys, but again very briefly. I wouldn't call those relationships. Ironically, now I'm totally open and eager to dating Haitian and other west-indian men (as long as they are born here or in the West, lol!) I guess my marriage took care of that, lol.

I had a stronger sense of black pride (from taking an interest in Haitian history and subsequently all of black history worldwide in my teens) than I did west-indian pride, if it makes any sense.

I wish my grandmother would have taught us french......I get a lil jelly when other people can have side convos in another language.......

Well, if you're Haitian and were raised in the U.S., that sort of makes sense. None of my cousins who are born and raised in the U.S. speak any French at all. They communicated with family in creole (and even that is somewhat rusty! It's more that they understand creole perfectly). Ironically one of my cousins married a white dude with French roots and now she regrets it!

My situation is different because I was raised in French Canada and went through the French school system up until university. So it made sense that my parents would speak to me both in creole and in French growing up, plus French was my first language in school and society. I learned English as a teenager, through watching soap operas mostly (lol) and through listening to music and reading novels.

I wish my grandmother would have taught us french......I get a lil jelly when other people can have side convos in another language.......

Well, if you're Haitian and were raised in the U.S., that sort of makes sense. None of my cousins who are born and raised in the U.S. speak any French at all. They communicated with family in creole (and even that is somewhat rusty! It's more that they understand creole perfectly). Ironically one of my cousins married a white dude with French roots and now she regrets it!

My situation is different because I was raised in French Canada and went through the French school system up until university. So it made sense that my parents would speak to me both in creole and in French growing up, plus French was my first language in school and society. I learned English as a teenager, through watching soap operas mostly (lol) and through listening to music and reading novels.

I wish my grandmother would have taught us french......I get a lil jelly when other people can have side convos in another language.......

Well, if you're Haitian and were raised in the U.S., that sort of makes sense. None of my cousins who are born and raised in the U.S. speak any French at all. They communicated with family in creole (and even that is somewhat rusty! It's more that they understand creole perfectly). Ironically one of my cousins married a white dude with French roots and now she regrets it!

My situation is different because I was raised in French Canada and went through the French school system up until university. So it made sense that my parents would speak to me both in creole and in French growing up, plus French was my first language in school and society. I learned English as a teenager, through watching soap operas mostly (lol) and through listening to music and reading novels.

Why?

Because her in-laws speak French and she doesn't. Her being of Haitian descent makes it even worse for her not to know any French at all.

@ New Diva: Yeah, it does. Truth be told, people born and raised in the States that are of Haitian descent should be trilingual (English, creole and French), imo. But as a few people stated, a lot of black children of immigrants (not all, of course) tend to not value their parents' linguistic heritage. Other ethnic groups like Chinese or latinos will not do that. Never met a north American raised Chinese that didn't speak Chinese.

I think that in the States (for Haitians anyway), it has to do with several factors. First, creole being the language used between intimates, it makes sense that parents would speak it to their kids. Secondly, American culture is kind of self-absorbed in a way (no, not tryna diss America, just stating the fact that americans see themselves as the center of the universe and only America and English matters). Thirdly, until recently, a lot of Haitian-Americans felt it wasn't cool to identify as Haitian and were berated by other blacks for it. It's only in recent years that Haitian-americans came to claim it and a lot of them still don't.

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot create polls in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum